All about ‘dem Beets!

By: Meg Colvin

Recently I was talked into ordering the beet pasta at Rose Cafe (um, twist my arm) and I literally thought about it for a week afterward- it was THAT good. Unfortunately, pasta is definitely not an everyday food for me, and the generous amounts of butter and cheese left me ready for a nap.

But I had to make this one over – it still has dairy so if you have dairy issues, this might not be for you. But, I used a homemade ricotta made from originally raw milk and a tablespoon of grass fed butter, swapped the white pasta for a quinoa version, and added spicy chicken sausage for protein. It’s so satisfying that you really don’t want more than a small serving, and you can eat it with your favorite kale salad for some greens.

Ingredients (serves one)

1/2 cup quinoa or brown rice pasta

1 tbsp grass fed butter

1/4 cup organic ricotta

Zest from 1/2 Orange,

2 leaves of sage, finely chopped

1/3 cup shredded beets (protip: you can usually find these at the Venice whole foods salad bar)

1/2-1 spicy Italian chicken sausage (not pre-cooked)

Salt and pepper

Optional: chopped hazelnuts or pistachios to top

1. Brown the butter: put butter over low-medium heat, and let cook until it turns a hazelnut color, about 7-10 min. Take care not to let it burn.

2. Add beets, a little s+p, turn heat to low and cover to cook beets, about 10 more minutes. Keep checking to make sure butter isn’t burning.

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta and cook sausage, chopping with a fork to get a ground meat texture.

4. Combine ricotta, orange zest, and sage- keep in fridge until everything else is ready.

5. Once the beets are cooked down, toss the beets/butter into the cooked pasta and add sausage. Top with ricotta and chopped nuts.